The Commission on Lobbying and Ethics in Government (COELIG) released their report of preliminary lobbying data from 2024. Lobbying spending was up over 4.5% from 2023, with a preliminary total of $377 million spent in 2024. The number of lobbying filings increased almost 6% from 2023. The top three subjects lobbied included miscellaneous business, appropriations, and health.

Q. My company is running ads in several states asking the public to contact their legislators in favor of pending legislation, so-called grassroots lobbying. My team member insists we do not need to worry about disclosing this activity. Is that correct?

A. As is often my response when talking about state lobbying, the answer is, “It depends on the state.” Your colleague is correct in a number of states. Alabama, Oklahoma, and Utah are among the states that do not require registration or reporting for solely engaging in grassroots lobbying.

Many states consider grassroots activities to be lobbying, and they will therefore count towards lobbyist registration. Rhode Island includes a good example of this, providing in its statute that lobbying includes soliciting others to act for the purpose of promoting any action by any member of the legislative branch of state government. In Pennsylvania, lobbying includes an effort to influence legislative action through indirect communications. You should know the definition of lobbying in the affected states so you can determine if lobbyist registration is required for your ads.

The expenses for these advertisements may need to be disclosed. If your company is not registered as a lobbyist employer or principal, special reporting may be required. California requires entities expending $5,000 or more in a calendar quarter in connection with soliciting or urging others to enter into direct communications with any elective state official or legislative official to file Form 645 according to the same quarterly schedule for lobbyist reports. Washington requires a company who has made expenditures, not reported by a registered lobbyist, exceeding $3,000 in the aggregate within any three-month period or $1,500 in the aggregate within any one-month period in presenting a campaign to the public, a substantial portion of which is intended to solicit the public to influence legislation, to register and file monthly reports as a sponsor of a grassroots lobbying campaign. Keep in mind that California and Washington are like a number of states, requiring grassroots lobbying expenses to be disclosed if you company is already registered.

We are seeing increasing regulation of grassroots lobbying in the states. You should be aware of your disclosure requirements before running any such campaigns.

The information from this response can easily be found on our website in the Lobbying Compliance section of the United States Lobbying Compliance Guidebook. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions.

The Maryland Legislature adjourned sine die at midnight on April 7. Several bills affecting government affairs were passed through both houses and are waiting on the governor’s desk to be signed. These bills include Senate Bill 945 and House Bill 945. Together, they will change the gubernatorial primary election date to the fourth Tuesday in June. Senate Bill 262 alters the dates for special elections, requiring them to be set within 90 days of being called. Senate Bill 633 allows registered lobbyists to complete ethics training online. These bills will be effective October 1, if signed by the governor.

Lawmakers adjourned abruptly last week on April 4, resulting in many bills being carried over to the second year of the session in 2026. One important passed bill awaiting the governor’s approval is Senate Bill 199. The bill removes the requirement for legislative lobbyists to report semi-monthly during the session. Under this new system only a single monthly report will be required for lobbyists beginning in 2026. The bill also changes campaign finance reporting requirements. Reports for election as well as nonelection years are due January 31, April 30, July 31, and October 20. This does affect lobbying reporting. The final semi-monthly lobbyist report is due April 15.

The 68^th Legislature adjourned sine die on Friday, April 4. The session lasted 89 days with a focus on tax cuts but also included a passed bill affecting the Lobbyist Registration Act. House Bill 398 reorganizes the state’s Sunshine Laws by moving the lobbying provisions within Title 67, Chapter 66, State Government and State Affairs, to Title 74, Chapter 7, Transparent and Ethical Government. The bill also updates the definition of lobbying to clarify both direct and indirect efforts to influence covered officials are considered lobbying. The bill becomes effective July 1.

A new bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives would prohibit former members and elected officers of the U.S. Congress from lobbying Congress at any time after leaving office.

The legislation,  the Halt Unchecked Member Benefits with Lobbying Elimination (HUMBLE) Act, would also ban members of Congress from owning or trading individual stocks; prevent members from serving on corporate boards while they are serving in Congress; eliminate access to members-only perks for former members; and eliminate automatic pay raises for members.

Additionally, the HUMBLE ACT, introduced in the House on April 3 by Rep. Angie Craig,  prohibits the use of taxpayer funds for first-class airline tickets, including for legislative branch employees, and only permits coach-class accommodations.

The Georgia House has just passed a bill removing the requirement to submit semi-monthly lobbyist activity reports when the Legislature is in session. Senate Bill 199 requires all reporting to be filed on the fifth of each month, which would bring reporting of state-level legislative lobbying in line with executive branch lobbying. The bill now goes to Gov. Kemp and if signed, will be effective January 1, 2026

The Department of State issued a declaratory ruling clarifying an exception to the lobbying gift ban regarding expenses for officials attending conferences. In the Detroit Regional Chamber Declaratory Ruling issued March 31, the department concluded a lobbyist or lobbyist agent may provide complimentary admission to public officials attending the Mackinac Policy Conference where the officials are providing a service with a value equal to or greater than the price of admission. The burden of demonstrating a public official is providing a service is on the lobbyist or lobbyist agent. An earlier ruling issued on March 10 concluded complimentary admission was an impermissible gift, but additional evidence submitted during the public comment period demonstrated public officials attending the Mackinac Policy Conference provide a service in exchange for complimentary admission. Lawmakers are currently considering Senate Bill 101, which would codify an exception to the gift ban for admission to a conference or educational event with subject matter directly related to the duties of the public official.

On April 1, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its audit of federal lobbying compliance for 2024.

For the audit, the GAO reviewed a stratified sample of 100 quarterly disclosure reports filed for the third and fourth quarters of calendar year 2023 and the first and second quarters of calendar year 2024. They also reviewed random samples of 160 LD-203 reports for the year-end 2023 and midyear 2024 reports.

Among its findings, the GAO concluded 93% of filers of lobbying disclosure reports were able to provide documentation to support reported income and expenses, 5% of LD-203 reports were missing reportable contributions, and 97% of lobbyists who filed new registrations also filed LD-2 reports as required for the quarter in which they first registered. The audit estimates at least 21% of all lobbying disclosure reports did not properly disclose formerly held covered positions.

The 54-page report is titled “2024 Lobbying Disclosure: Observations on Compliance with Requirements.”

The New Mexico Legislature adjourned at noon on March 22 after 60 days in session. During the session, lawmakers passed a bill requiring lobbyists to file activity reports disclosing their stances on legislation, and, if positions change, to update their stances within 48 hours. House Bill 143 is being transmitted to the governor’s desk for signature. During a news conference following the Legislature’s adjournment, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham indicated a special session to address public safety is likely in the aftermath of a March 21 mass shooting in Las Cruces.

The Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board issued the report of expenditures by lobbyist principals. The report includes compensation paid to lobbyists and costs incurred to support lobbying. Prior to 2024, lobbyist principals reported their expenditures in two categories: the amount spent to influence the PUC; and all other lobbying. The expenditures now include the amount spent in four categories: the amount spent to influence actions by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC); the amount spent to influence legislative action; the amount spent to influence administrative action; and the amount spent to influence the actions of metropolitan governmental units. A searchable listing of the reported expenditures by lobbyist principals is available on the board’s website at https://cfb.mn.gov/.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11^th Circuit heard arguments on whether to strike down a Florida state constitutional amendment prohibiting elected officials from being paid to lobby while in office. Miami-Dade County Commissioner Rene Garcia and South Miami Mayor Javier Fernandez argued the lobbying ban should be more narrowly tailored as it currently prohibits any form of paid lobbying by elected officials, even in other states. The state, which lost in district court, argued the government’s interest in preventing corruption overrides free speech concerns. The three-judge panel did not indicate when a decision will be announced.

Q. I’ve received emails about Michigan transitioning to a new lobbyist system. What do I need to do to be able to file reports?

A. Michigan has completely overhauled their lobbyist reporting system, integrating lobbying reporting into their MiTN (Michigan Transparency Network) and MiLogin services. The old system has been sunsetted and placed in “read only mode.” Due to the old system shutting down, every lobbyist and lobbyist agent must create a new account to file reports electronically. Registrations and reports may still be completed via paper, signed, scanned, and emailed to the Secertary of State. But much like their old lobbyist system, they have disabled their old email. Now all correspondence must be sent to “MDOS-FinancialDisclosure@michigan.gov.”

The first hurdle with the new system is figuring out what portal to use to create their MiLogin profile. Individual lobbyists should use “milogin.michigan.gov.” This is a “personal” login and one that should already be used by lobbyists who are Michigan residents. This ensures an individual does not have multiple accounts. Businesses, lobbying firms, and organizations should use “milogintp.michigan.gov.”
An individual can use the MiLogin for businesses if they wish to file for multiple clients.

Once a profile is created, you must “add” the MiTN link to your MiLogin home page and create a two-factor authorization method. The next step is to link your old Michigan lobbyist information to your MiTN account. Importantly, only people who are listed on a registration, such as an employee or signatory, may file reports. The system will ask what your MiTN user role is. You may select either “Lobby Registrant” or “Lobby Data Entry.” Anyone can be labeled as “Lobby Data Entry” but, only people who are listed on a registration can be labeled as “Lobby Registrant.” Only people labeled as “Lobby Registrant” may file reports. Your account will be reviewed, and once approved, you will be able to file registrations and reports through the portal.

[For more information about the nuances of the changed system, please check out the “Registration” and “Reporting” sections of the Michigan Lobbying Compliance Laws online publication.]

The federal lobbying registration threshold for organizations employing in-house lobbyists has been increased. Now, an organization employing in-house lobbyists whose total expenses in connection with lobbying activities do not exceed and are not expected to exceed $16,000 in the quarterly period is not required to be registered. The previous level was $14,000.

This threshold amount is adjusted every four years based on the Consumer Price Index.

A lobbying firm or individual lobbyist whose total income for matters relating to lobbying activities on behalf of a particular client does not exceed or is not expected to exceed $3,500 in the quarterly period is exempt from registration with respect to such client. The previous level was $3,000.

Other determinations for registration include whether a lobbyist is an individual who, with respect to a particular client, makes more than one lobbying contact and whose lobbying activities constitute at least 20% of the individual’s time in services for that client over any three-month period.